HomePod Mini 2 first look: Three things I love and one disappointment

Apple’s second-generation HomePod Mini is a nice upgrade, but the biggest improvement hasn’t arrived yet. | Photo: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge When I first heard about the new $149 HomePod Mini 2 at Apple's Welcome Home event last month, I was disappointed. It's been six years since Apple launched its entry-level smart speaker, and all it got in the second gen was a chip bump, some color glowy stuff, and better AirPlay? For $50 more than the original, which launched at $99, Apple didn't even upgrade the sound system. It felt like the company phoned this one in. Now that I've got my hands on a couple and set them up in my home office, I'm more enthused. The Mini 2 is so much faster than the first-gen Mini, playing music in a few seconds and responding to smart home commands just as … Read the full story at The Verge.